SNL Review- Dane Cook/The Killers
Sorry this is so late y’all. My computer was in the shop until Tuesday and I didn’t have a chance to write it till now. Plus it’s Dane Cook- he sucks. But greetings and/or salutations, and I look forward to reviewing yet another SNL Season.
Sports Report-
Saints- Who would believe the Saints would be in first place after 25% of the season is done. They’re probably not going to make the playoffs in the end, but I’m keeping the faith. The Saints ARE coming.
Leafs- I feared for the worst facing Ottawa twice in two nights, but tonight was a nice ass whooping.
Canucks- One game in, one goal by Linden. Good enough for me.
Mailbag!!!!!-
[email protected] writes-
Ellen DeGeneres / No Doubt
December 15, 2001
HI YOU AROTE A REVIEW ON THIS, VERY GOOD BY THE WAY, QUESTION, BY ANY CHANCE HAVE ANY IDEA IF THIS IS ON A VHS OR DVD, MY SON HAS BEEN ASKING FOR THIS SNL EPISODE FOR A LONG TIME AND WANTS IT FOR GRADUATION, HE'S 11 YEARS OLD, IT WAS WITH ELLEN DEGENERES, WILL FARRELL, MUSIC GUEST STAR NODOUBT, IM LOSING MY MIND SEARCHING AND SEARCHING CAN YOU HELP ME THANKS DESPERATE MOM, STATEN ISLAND NY.
That’s a lot of shouting. Marc Jennings is the best resource for SNL tapes though. The s-n-l.com message board has a folder devoted to tapes and all that.
Danny Mendlow writes-
A fan of Sketch, and Bertuzzi... may just enjoy this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIo0cfmKj3Y
True story- the minute Bert was traded, I officially condemned what he did to Steve Moore. There was a ceremony and anything.
Carly Jaspon writes-
hi i was just wondering if there was ever a skit done on snl about a highschool football team who turned away strippers during a team party please e-mail me back
Not that I can recall. If there was one, and the strippers were hot, that’d be awesome.
[email protected] writes-
Hey Bob-
I want to contribute something to your mailbag that probably you may
have never received before. I was hoping if I could make you think a
little more deeply this week. So here it goes-
Do you believe in God? Why or why not?
If you think God exists, then how can you explain why bad things happen
to people? You know, things like the following-
- 9/11
- Columbine
- Violence in the Middle East
- O.J. getting off
- Serial killers like Ted Bundy and B.T.K. killing people
Plus, do you believe in existence of heaven and hell? Why or why not?
I’m a born-again Christian, just like HBK and Eddy. But I think I’m
beginning to lose my faith.
I remember you once mentioned in your reviews that you’re Jewish. So I
was wondering what the Jewish faith teaches about the existence of God
and life after death, and about why bad things happen in the world.
I’m very interested in what you have to say, Bob. Thanks.
Later,
Ken
Yes, I believe in God. I’m not too religious, but I do have a Bible and if I need to, I will consult to. Why do I believe? Because I’ve felt God’s love and I believe he’s been there for me.
You have to believe in someone who was portrayed by Mrs. Landingham on Joan of Arcadia.
Why do bad things happen to good people? I don’t know, but I remember someone wrote a book called Why Bad Things Happen to Good People. I did not read it.
And OJ getting off was awesome, don’t hate. I mean God can do a lot, but make Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden competent is not one of them.
Oh and by God, you mean God, not the John Lennon song of the same name.
Wanna be in the mailbag??? Email me at
[email protected]
And now the review....
Cold Opening
Cast- Amy Poehler, Jason Sudeikis, Kristin Wiig, Bill Hader, Maya Rudolph, Fred Armisen, Will Forte, Andy Samberg
Thoughts- This was a pretty flat way to begin the new season. Nothing much to complain about, it just wasn’t that funny. Forte tried but the material just wasn’t there. I did like this skit because they mentioned the Saints going 3-0, which is awesome. I know that’s a Jamie Klein reason for liking something, but the last time I remember the Saints being mentioned on SNL was during the SuperFans skit when Farley hosted, and that was when Mike Ditka said they sucked. So it’s nice to see the Saints get some love. But yea, this was kind of lame. **3/4
Monologue
Cast- Dane Cook
Thoughts- Wow, Dane Cook is terrible. His delivery is rushed, his payoffs are terrible and he just goes from one random bit to the next, so it’s disjointed. And he’s a joke thief so screw him. *
Airport Security
Cast- Cook, Kenan Thompson, Sudeikis, Rudolph, Armisen, Poehler, Forte
Thoughts- Maya’s annoying airport security guard character returns. I don’t know if this merited being the first skit, but this was pretty funny. Fred and Will were both really funny here, especially Fred bringing up the turkey sandwich thing. And I loved Kenan’s William Regal face after Forte talked about the gel on the airplane. Good stuff, and I’m glad they kept Dane as a straight man. ***
Hugo Chavez Political Roundup
Cast- Cook, Armisen, Darrell Hammond, Hader, Poehler
Thoughts- Sigh, Darrell. There is really nothing left to say. But I think he’s going to be in the cast until the end of time and we have to accept that. It’s awful, but it’s a part of life, like the common cold. This was okay, but Amy’s Kim Jong IL was pretty bad. I did laugh at a Horatio Sanz impression being replaced by Amy though. Dane Cook’s Saddam Hussein was terrible. And I did miss the UN speech by Chavez, so some of this was lost on me, but I liked the impression. I also liked Bill as the president of Iran and them all saying they would want to live in America. This was alright. **1/2
SNL Digital Short: Cubicle Fight
Cast- Cook, Samberg, Hader, Sudeikis, Armisen, Wiig, Poehler, Thompson
Thoughts- This skit involved violence, Dane Cook getting his ass kicked and Jackass style humour, so of course I enjoyed it. I do wish that Dane hadn’t won the fight, because Bill Hader>Dane Cook. And his name is Dane. Jason channelling his inner Gary Cole (we all have one) was amusing, and of course the graphic violence at the end- awesome. Good to see the Lonely Island guys still coming through with the Digital Shorts. ***1/2
Al Pacino Checks His Bank Balance
Cast- Hader, Wiig
Thoughts- Bill Hader’s Al Pacino returns. Awesome. I was hoping they would do this in the Spacey episode to do another Glengarry parody. Now I know that they did a Glengarry parody in December, but you really can’t get enough parodies of Glengarry Glen Ross. Especially if they did that scene where Pacino continually calls Spacey the ‘c’ word. Hader’s Pacino is hilarious and this was a great way to use it. Even though Pacino seems like a Citibank guy. ***1/2
The Killers “When We Were Young”
Thoughts- The Killers look like the biggest bunch of losers since well, the last band that appeared on SNL that I mocked. Hearing songs after they’ve been Video on Trialed is hard, since I just can’t take it seriously. He doesn’t look like a thing like Jesus- seriously- what the hell? Where did that even come from? And who is the Killers’ image consultant? I mean, who actually said, “Okay guys, the lead singer has to look like River Cuomo, the guitarist has to look like every other long haired loser bassist, and the drummer- make him look like Jason Lee.” Oh, the song was good. ***
Weekend Update
Cast- Brian Williams, Seth Meyers, Amy Poehler, Hammond, Rudolph, Sudeikis, Samberg
Thoughts- Hmmmm, do I begin with going crazy over Seth being on Update, or rant about the way the whole thing was set up? Let’s rant. Who decided to have SNL come off from a long commercial break with a brief vignette with Brian Williams, a pointless 30 Rock ad and then ANOTHER commercial break? Because of it, I missed the first little bit of Update. It’s not my fault, blame the Saskatchewan Roughriders and their inability to punt in a timely fashion. Thankfully, the magic of torrenting let me watch it again.
So Seth’s doing Update. My long awaited dream comes true. Am I happy with the decision? Of course. Do I think it was the best decision to make? I don’t think so. I love Seth and I’m excited to see him at the desk every week, but I think he was due in 2004. I personally think Sudeikis would’ve been the best choice. He’s only in his third season, he’s headed for breakout status and I think Update could’ve been the thing to put him over the top and make him THE man. With Seth, his time had passed and I think the ship has sailed. He’s going to be awesome at Update, but I think SNL could’ve made an even better choice.
I also wish Lorne had finally ditched the co-anchor format. Jimmy and Tina were great but their currently tanking in movies and soon to be tanking on TV, respectively. Amy and Tina tried to do the Girls Gone Update thing and it was painful. Now Amy and Seth have great chemistry in skits, but I’m unsure of how they’ll do together at the desk given that Amy sucks.
The bit with Brian Williams was hilarious and a great way to start off Update. And yes I’m counting it as one skit since it all took place at the Update desk. The intro sucks, but that’s picking nits. The Clinton-Condi commentary was lame, I’m officially tired of Darrell’s Clinton. Samberg as Dustin Diamond didn’t work for me, as I wasn’t feeling the voice. Sudeikis’ commentary was awesome. He sounded just like John Bradshaw Layfield, that I was hoping he would say: I’m a wrestling….God. He was great though- lots of good lines, especially about using the ‘n’ word and being Jewish. I hope Jason’s commentaries become a regular fixture at the desk.
Now onto Seth and Amy. Amy wasn’t as bad as she’s been in the past, but still had the problem of flat jokes and rushed delivery. I thought Seth did a fine job. A lot of his jokes worked, he had very flew misses, and I loved his first Burt joke and first Bush joke. He needs to stop doing the Jim Halpert smirk and he’ll be great. I think he’ll only get better.
This Update was much better then most of the Fey-Poehler and I’m confident about what the desk is going to be like this season. ***1/4
H20 on the Sunset Strip
Cast- Cook, Forte, Wiig
Thoughts- I was digging this skit, since I usually enjoy the bizarre Will Forte skits and the water falling was funny. But man, those attempted references to Studio 60 and the “playing fair” references to SNL and 30 Rock just died and killed the skit dead. If SNL wants to take potshots at Studio 60- go for it. It’s not hard to find things to mock so go for it. Don’t tack it on the end of the skit and kill the whole thing dead. Aaron Sorkin’s a drug addict, Matthew Perry loves Vicodin almost as much as House and Timothy Busfield was in Little Big League- right there for mockery. **1/4
The Killers “The Boning Song”
Thoughts- I don’t know if this song qualifies as part of the emo genre, but it seemed pretty emo to me. And lame. Come on Killers, you can do better. And Not Rivers Cuomo- the white jacket- no. **
Farrah Fawcett for Ocean Save
Cast- Poehler
Thoughts- Hey, remember in 1997 when Farrah Fawcett was on Letterman and came off as being incredibly ditzy and spacey and/or on drugs? That was NINE years ago. Yea. ½*
Got to Go
Cast- Everyone but Seth
Thoughts- The guys spraying the water on Fred was the only highlight of this skit. And I’m counting the Farrah and Got to Go as two separate skits since Farrah didn’t do anything in the Got to Go skit, and these were two separate premises. Same rating though! ½*
Whitney Houston for GEICO
Cast- Rudolph, Samberg
Thoughts- As much as I’m thrilled with cast purging, Maya couldn’t have been included too? I mean it’s not like her last movie was buried by the studio or anything. Oh wait…. This wasn’t bad and by last skit standards was pretty good. The GEICO ad with Little Richard owns. **1/2
The Bottom Line- The avg. skit was **.31 making this a thumbs in the middle show. SNL was forced to deal with a host with little talent, and I think they did the best they could given the circumstances. Instead of writing around the host, they just didn’t write for him at all. While this wasn’t a good show, I think you can take a lot of positives from it. Update’s going to be better and I think a tighter cast is going to make the show much more fun.
Thumbs in the Middle
